Chords + Lyrics | These Boots Are Made for Walkin’
Intro
||: E | E :|| x4
Verse 1
| E | E | E | E |
You keep sayin’ you’ve got somethin’ for me.
| E | E | E | E |
Somethin’ you call love but confess.
| A5 | A5 | A5 | A5 |
You’ve been a-messin’ where you shouldn’t have been a-messin’.
| E | E | E | E |
And now someone else is getting all your best.
Chorus 1
| G /F# | E /F# | G /F# | E /F# |
These boots are made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do.
| G /F# | E N.C | N.C |
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.
Instrumental 1
||: E | E :|| x4
Yeah.
Verse 2
You keep lyin’ when you oughta be truthin’.
And you keep losing when you oughta not bet.
You keep samin’ when you oughta be a-changin’.
Now what’s right is right but you ain’t been right yet.
Chorus 2
These boots are made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do.
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.
Instrumental 2
||: E7 | E7 :|| x4
Verse 3
| E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) |
You keep playin’, where you shouldn’t be playin’.
| E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) |
And you keep thinkin’ that you’ll never get burnt, ha.
| A7 (A6) | A7 (A6) | A7 (A6) | A7 (A6) |
I just found me a brand new box of matches, yeah.
| E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) | E7 (E6) |
And what he knows you ain’t had time to learn.
Chorus 3
These boots are made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do.
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.
Outro
||: E | E :|| x4
Are you ready, boots? Start walkin’.
||: E7 outro riff :|| to fade
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning These Boots Are Made for Walkin’. I’ve used stem-seperation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 441Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
This track is an unexpected gem! I love playing the chords for These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ because they offer great opportunities for development as the song progresses.
Verse
Start verses 1 and 2 by playing the following in the key of E:
||: E (I) :|| x8
||: A5 (IV) :|| x4
||: E :|| x4
By verse 3, incorporate the horn riff and the chords shift to this:
||: E7 (E6) :|| x8
||: A7 (A6) :|| x4
||: E7 (E6) :|| x4
Chorus
In between, the chorus mainly features a bass line moving between I and VI in the new key of G, where chord VI is major (VIx), creating tension. In its simplest form, it looks like this:
||: G (I) /F# | E (VIx) /F# :||
While the chord riff can be played on just one guitar, it’s the horn riff that adds the signature fun to the song.
I’ve designed some TAB to guide you through all of this. Find it furtehr down this guitar lesson.
Once you’ve studied the TAB, a simple chord chart will be all you need as a reminder, like this one.
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you’d like to download the chord chart, here’s a PDF: These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, and you can find the file here: These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ iReal Pro.
With iReal Pro, you can change the key—though, if you do, how will you incorporate the iconic horn riff?
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ | TAB
Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ can be arranged beautifully on just one acoustic guitar—even those iconic horn riffs can be included.
Let’s start with the intro and verse riffs. This is exactly as played on the original recording:
Once you’ve nailed the double hammer-on, this riff almost plays itself. Naming the chords here is tricky—none of the common names quite fit.
The main E chord could technically be labelled E7#9, since you hammer-on from a m3rd and b7 to a major 3rd and root. But calling it E7#9 feels off, so I’ve opted to label it simply E, even though that’s not 100% accurate.
The same goes for the A5. The hammer-on moves from the b7 and 4th to the root and 5th. You might call it A7sus4, but again, that doesn’t feel quite right—A5 is a better functional label for our purposes.
Here’s the chorus riff. The G chord is borrowed from the parallel minor key (Em), which makes this a modal interchange—or a bIIIx if you prefer staying in the key, and adjusting the Roman numerals:
Now, let’s bring in that famous horn riff from verse 3. Here’s how you can play it on one acoustic guitar:
Play this slowly at first and gradually increase the tempo. When it feels fluid, try it with the original recording.
Finally, the outro riff—there are two ways to approach this, and I suggest you try both to see which fits your style best:
There may only be three chords in These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, but it’s how you use them that makes all the difference—a lesson this tune drives home perfectly.
When you can play all the TAB, put it all togetehr using the backing track and chord chart.
Nancy Sinatra’s Swinging 60s Classic
Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ is not only her signature song but also her breakthrough single.
Being Frank Sinatra’s daughter, the immense success of the song must have been a relief for Nancy, as she had big shoes to fill. The track, along with its iconic video, became emblematic of the swinging ’60s, capturing the era’s shift as women began to find their independent voice.
An unexpected cover that always resonates well, I highly recommend adding this track to your band’s setlist.
If you’re looking to engage the crowd, why not have them line dance, even if your band isn’t a country band? Audience participation is key to the success of any working band.
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ Chords: Continue Learning
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